Russia launches record number of drones at Ukraine — as Kyiv nears mineral rights deal with US

KYIV – Russia launched a record 267 drones overnight at Ukraine — as Kyiv nears a key mineral-rights deal with the US.

The Post witnessed dozens of the unmanned aerial vehicles buzzing toward the besieged country’s capital, sometimes appearing as a line of red lights flying through the skies before suddenly bursting into flames as Ukrainian aviation and anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare systems and mobile fire groups took them out.

Explosions seen above Kyiv during a Russian drone strike on Feb. 23, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Ukrainian service personnel using searchlights to spot Russian drones over Kyiv. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

The “falling debris damaged several houses and cars” in Kyiv’s southeastern Darnytskyi district and caused a house fire in the city’s southwestern Holosiivskyi district, according to the US embassy in Ukraine.

“In addition, debris was found in the National Botanical Garden,” the embassy said. “No casualties have been reported thus far.”

Although Kyiv is more than 300 miles west of the front lines, the war is very much in the nation’s capital as Russia targets civilian infrastructure here and throughout the country — despite Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s lies that Moscow’s forces aim only for military targets.

Since The Post arrived in Kyiv a week ago, each night has been a deadly fireworks show of missiles, drones and interceptions. At night, air raid alarms and loud booms are constant.

Russia launched a record 267 drones overnight at Ukraine. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Ukrainian firefighters working to put out a fire at the site of a drone strike in Kyiv on Feb. 23, 2025. Photo by HANDOUT/UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP via Getty Images

Saturday night’s 267 drones blew away the all-time high set in November, when Russia launched 188 drones into Ukraine in a single night, the Ukrainian Foriegn Ministry said. On Tuesday, Russia neared it’s then-record, launching 176 drones at the war-torn country.

The dismal new record was set soon after news broke that the US and Ukraine were close to reaching a mineral rights deal, much to Putin’s chagrin, after US envoy to the Ukraine War Gen. Keith Kellogg left Kyiv on Friday.

Kellogg had spent Wednesday through Friday in a series of intensive, critical meetings with Ukrainian government officials — including Ukraine President Volodymr Zelensky — conveying President Trump’s desires in a way that apparently quelled at least partly the recent tit-for-tat drama between the US and Ukraine that had only pleased Putin.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Feb. 20, 2025. Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images

The make-up session clearly disturbed the Kremlin, which has been attempting to play hardball with Trump, the ultimate negotiator who literally wrote, “The Art of the Deal,” US and Ukrainian defense experts told the Post.